During the months of May and June, bishops in dioceses all over the United States will be ordaining new priests to serve Christ and His Church. It is difficult for me to believe how quickly the years have flown by and that on May 21, Ascension Thursday, I celebrated the 49th anniversary of my priesthood ordination.
On June 27, 2009, Bishop David Zubik will ordain four new priests to serve the faithful of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
Recently, Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI announced a “Year of the Priest” to begin June 19, the Feast of the Sacred Heart and the World Day for the Sanctification of Priests.
The Pope explained that the purpose of this special year is “precisely to encourage priests in their striving for spiritual perfection on which, above all, the effectiveness of their ministry depends.”
In addition the Holy Father asked the Vatican Congregation of the clergy to work with bishops and religious superiors to coordinate pastoral initiatives that make “the importance of the priest’s role and mission in the Church and in contemporary society more clearly perceived.”
Of course, support for the priesthood is nothing new to the Ancient Order of Hibernians. In America, the AOH was founded in New City to protect the priests and the churches from the “Know Nothings” and their anti-Catholic, anti-Irish followers.
Today the order in engaged in a number of efforts to support vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Project St. Patrick provides both monetary and moral support for seminarians and postulants preparing for the priesthood and religious life. In addition the AOH members and their families continue to prayer for priestly and religious vocations.
St. John Vianney, the Cure of Ars, who is the patron of priests, once said: “All the good works in the world are not equal to the sacrifice of the Mass because they are the works of men, but the Mass is the work of God ... the Mass is the sacrifice of God for man.” It is necessary to have priests to offer the sacrifice of the Mass and continue the Gospel Mission of Christ, the Divine High Priest.
As we celebrate the Year of the Priest, let us thank the Lord for the gifts of the Church, the Eucharist and the priesthood and show our gratitude to our priests by our love, our prayers and our support.
-- Father Tom O’Donnell, AOH Division One, Allegheny County Chaplain and Pa. State Chaplain
As Hibernians and as Christians we celebrate the central Mysteries of our faith during this month of April. Without the Death and Resurrection of Christ, our faith would have no meaning. Christ, Our Redeemer, suffered and died for us to give each one of us salvation. By His Resurrection, Jesus truly proved that he was the Messiah. In His rising from the dead, Christ has given all of us the promise and hope that we will one day also rise to be gloriously happy with Our Father in the Eternal Kingdom.
The Resurrection of Christ is the most important event in the history of the world. As we contemplate this mystery of the Cross and Resurrection, we begin to see that pain, suffering and death will be transformed into new life. God, who is a God of life, has assured us that ultimately there is nothing to fear, not even death itself.
Our task as Christians is to believe in spite of all that we see in the world around us -- the pain and suffering of war, violence, the killing of the unborn, hunger and poverty. To hold this kind of unshakeable hope in the face of what we hear and witness every day may, to some people, be an act of insanity. We may not have a reasonable argument for our position, for our hope. Instead of a logical answer, we have a person —Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.
Mary Magdalene also carried this hope in her heart. He had given her life back to her, and she, in turn, gave her life to him as one of his most faithful and loving followers. When she comes to his tomb, the two angels ask her: “Woman, why are you weeping?” Are we being asked the same question? When Jesus rose from the dead, all of us rose with him. Jesus’ resurrection was the ultimate and final sign that life is stronger than death. We firmly hold and believe that death is not the end of who we are. Death is merely a stage that we go through. On Easter morning Jesus emerged on the other side of death into a new and eternal life. You and I have been given that same hope and promise.
On Easter Sunday in 1916 brave Irish heroes began the fight for religious and political independence of the Irish people after hundreds of years of oppression. On this Easter Sunday let us pray that finally there will be a lasting and just peace in all of Ireland.
With every blessing in Unity, Friendship and Christian Charity,
Following are Fr. Tom's comments for the New Year.
An Unusual Start to the New Year Sometimes I think that God looks down upon us, smiles and deals us some whimsical circumstances to see how we cope. Such was the case with the beginning of 2009 nine for me.
I spent New Year’s Day with my sister Mary, brother-in-law Jim who I affectionately call "Archie", and my nieces and nephews. After the traditional pork and sauerkraut dinner, I began the journey home from just south of Butler to the Burgh.
This trip traverses Route 8 South which on a normal sunny day is not very pleasant but on a snow/sleet evening it can be downright treacherous, especially if your window defroster is not working. My front window kept steaming up and since I did not have a defroster, I had to stop about every five minutes to wipe off the window. I made it back to St. Mary’s Rectory in about twice the normal time. I think my Guardian Angel was with me.
When I got to my room, I pulled out my new car driver’s manual to see if I missed anything. I have a Dodge Charger now since the 39 month lease on my Chrysler 300 ran out. After looking at the page on the defroster, low and behold what to my wondering eyes should appear but the fact that the defroster on this car is all the way on the left.
I have been driving for fifty-four years now and every car that I have owned has had the defroster on the extreme right. My dumb – I should have read the manual.
After finishing with the defroster fiasco, I suddenly realized that there was something frosty about my rooms. Touching the radiator, I discovered that it was ice cold. There was no hear in the house and the temperature in all of the rooms was about 40 degrees.
On a holiday evening there is not much you can do but suffer until you can call a serviceman in the morning. I pulled out a couple of extra blankets from my cedar chest and went to be. The next day was Friday and the receptionist told me the heating and cooling technician was called but would not be there until about two in the afternoon. I decided to go out to the Tribunal Building because I had some documents to sign and I had to finish some judicial decisions.
On my way to my office I would stop at the drug store and pick up my medicine. When I got to our indoor garage which is located under the Diocesan Building attached to the rectory. One of the other priests met me and informed me that the massive steel garage door which operated electronically would not open and that a repairman had been called. All five priests were trapped in a building which had no heat. The only thing we could do was wait, go back to our frigid rooms and put on overcoats, hats and gloves. The heat finally came on about two in the afternoon, but the garage door was not fixed until after three.
So much for doing some work at the Tribunal. I am thankful that these inconveniences were only temporary and pale in comparison with some of the problems that many people are facing in the world today – wars and violence in many parts of the world. Here in the United States there are also multiple problems as we begin the New Year – home foreclosures, lay offs, job losses, businesses collapsing, and declining financial markets.
We pray for anyone in these circumstances, especially any of our Hibernian brothers and sisters who are trying to support their families and their livelihoods.
In these troubling times we have to hold fast to our faith and our hope. At this season we are sustained by the Infant Savior who is always extending his arms out to us in love and tenderness. Our Lord has always promised to stay with us.
May the love of the Christ Child continue to comfort and strengthen us. Let us greet this New Year with hope and joy in our hearts and be grateful for the gift of Christ’s love for us all.
- Father Tom O’Donnell – AOH Penna. State Chaplain
Priestly Ordination and Role Models One of the questions that a priest is frequently asked is “When did you know that you wanted to be a priest.” In my life, the call to priesthood may have come very early. My dad, Bartley, was the janitor at St. Laurence O’Toole Church in the Garfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh for over thirty-five years. As soon as I was able to walk, my dad would take me with him down to the church, rectory and convent. At an early age I got to know all of the priests and Dominican Nuns. On one visit to the rectory when I was about three years old, my dad told me that the pastor, Father Callery, picked me up in his arms and asked me: “Now, Tommy, what do you want to be when you grow up?” My dad tells me that even at that early age, my answer was: “I want to be a priest like you, Father.” Father Callery died in 1938 when I was four years old. At that time Father Paul Campbell who was in residence at St. Laurence and was the Superintendant of Schools was name the pastor. At the same time a newly ordained priest, Father Joseph Regis Berkmeyer, became the assistant pastor. The people quickly fell in love with the new assistant priest. Father Berkmeyer was a true role model for the children and young people of the parish. His holy, warm, jovial, and affable spirit was constantly present around the church and school. It was no wonder then that Tommy O’Donnell wanted to follow in the footsteps of the elderly Father Callery and young Father Berkmeyer. I talked to Father Rege as the school children called Father Berkmeyer and he advised me to go to the seminary which he had attended, the Pontifical College Josephinum. Father Rege got all of the necessary papers and even took me to the doctors to get the necessary physical so that I would be admitted. In September of 1948 the young fourteen year old, Tom O’Donnell, enrolled at the Pontifical College Josephinum where I remained until I was ordained to the Priesthood on May 21, 1961. I credit my vocation to the example of love in the marriage of my parents, Bartley and Nellie and the role model of two wonderful priests, Father Callery and Father Berkmeyer. In my own life I would like to think that I have also been a role model for some of the young men who are now priests or soon to be ordained priests. My first assignment was St. Kieran Parish in Lawrenceville. Father Ben Vaghetto was in grade school at the time and is now the pastor of St. Raphael in Morningside as well as being a Judge in the Marriage Tribunal. As an assistant at St. Norbert in Overbrook, I baptized Father Tom Burke. Father Tom has always told me that I gave him a good beginning and as Father Tom Burke says: “Good beginnings last a lifetime.” Father Tom Burke recently received his first assignment as a pastor of Good Shepherd Church in Braddock. From 1975-1983 I was pastor of Annunciation Parish on the North Side. A young man, who was in grade school when I was pastor at Annunciation, was Thomas Gillespie. Tom is presently studying at Theological College in Washington, D.C. and will be ordained a priest in a couple of years. After eight years at Annunciation parish I was appointed pastor of St. Wendelin Church in Carrick where I served as pastor for eighteen years. When I first arrived at St. Wendelin Church, I became acquainted with a four year old boy by the name of Nick Argentieri. Every Sunday John and Nancy Argentieri would come to nine o’clock Mass with their sons, Dominic and Nick. The Argentieri family would always occupy the first pew in the church. Inevitably, while I was preaching, little Nick would drop his misalette over the pew onto the floor and then would look up at me and giggle with the greatest delight. From his earliest years in grade school, Nick possessed the social graces, good humor and maturity of some one much older than he. Nick has always been a multi-talented individual. In grade school he was a good athlete and showed his talents in the school plays in which he sang, acted and danced. His talents also included his artistry as a master magician. As a magician he was given the name, Slick Nick. As a young adult, Nick continued to pursue his love of acting in high school and college. I encouraged Nick and went to see him in most of his stage productions in high school and college. Frequently I spoke to Nick about the possibility that God was calling him to the priesthood. After his college years Nick began to answer that call and entered St. Paul Seminary in Pittsburgh. After his years at St. Paul, the Bishop sent Nick to North American College to complete his theological studies. On June 21, 2008 Nick will be ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh. I am very proud that I was able to play even a small part in Nick’s priestly vocation. The circle of spiritual life and formation will continue when Father Nick becomes a role model for young men in the parishes where he will serve. Let us pray for all of our priests, those who have been ordained for many years and those who are being ordained this year. With every blessing and best wish, Father Tom O’Donnell, AOH Allegheny County and Penna. State Chaplain
